HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Department of Health is launching two new search tools designed to help make it easier for Hawaii residents to redeem and recycle deposit beverage containers. The tools help consumers statewide locate their nearest certified redemption center with street addresses and current hours of operation.

“These search tools are currently in the beta development stage, but we wanted to make them available to the public now so that they could test drive them and provide us with feedback as we continue to make them as user-friendly as possible,” said Keith Kawaoka, deputy director of environmental health with the Hawaii State Department of Health. “We believe these tools will provide the public with a readily available and convenient source of information about the locations and operating times for HI-5 recycling centers throughout the state.”

The new mapping tools were developed with the assistance and expertise of the State of Hawaii Office of Planning, software company ESRI, and George Lee and McKay Davis, dedicated volunteers with Code for Hawaii, the local brigade of the national nonprofit organization Code for America.
Code for America enlists the talents of local technology professionals to provide public service. Code for Hawaii developed a mapping tool (www.redeemhi5.com) that is optimized for mobile devices (especially phones).

“Sharing information and expertise between state, private and non-profit organizations can reap innovative and practical advances that benefit the public and the environment,” added Kawaoka. “We believe these convenient new tools will help encourage more recycling in Hawaii.”

The tools are available on the Department of Health’s Deposit Beverage Container Program website and are accessible via most web browsers on computers and mobile devices. To find these new search tools go to: http://health.hawaii.gov/hi5/